Centrifugal setting out machine



sept. 27, 1932. J A MEYER 1,879,942

GENTRIFUGAL SETTING-OUT MACHINE agywwmmw' Sept. 27, 1932.

J. A. MEYER 1,879,942

CENTRIFUGAL SETTING-OUT MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 11. 1929 sept. 27, 1932. m J, ,1 MEYER 1 1,879,942

CENTRIFUGAL SETTING-OUT MACHINE Filed sept. 11. 1929 4 sheets-sheet 5 Wwf Sept. 27, 1932.

FIG. 5.

J. A. MEYER CENTRIFUGAL SETTING-OUT MACHINE Filed Sept. 11, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Sept. 27, 1932 JOSEPH A. MEYER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY CENTRIFUGAL SETTING OUT' MACHINE Application led September 11, 1929. Serial No. 391,717.

the edge of the hide by tacks or otherwise.`

lt is then dried in that'condition, maintaining a gain in area in spite of the fact that l the outer fringe is damaged by the tacks and must be discarded. c

As will readily be appreciated, the above described operation is slow and expensive. The working of the tools over the hide is a V tedious process and the drying of fthe stretched hide is expensive and time-consuming.

Machines have been designed to speed up the process by causing a larger tool or a '25 plurality of tools to sweep across the hide in order to perform in one quick operation the entire setting out process preliminaryV toV drying. Such machines work well on certain kinds of hides, but are not satisfactory on certain skins of more delicate nature norV on hides or skins of any kind if they have holes in them, on account of the fact that the power-driven tools are liable to enlarge the holes.

The principal object of the present invention is to disclose a method and apparatus for performing the setting out operation by power, rapidly and economically, on skins or hides of any kind or condition.

Another object of the invention is to extract most of the moisture from the hide during the setting out operation, whereby the time required forthe subsequent drying operation is greatly reduced.

Another object is to greatly stretch the area of the hide during the setting out operation.

Further and other objects and advantages A will be apparent from the specification and claims, and from the drawings which show by way of illustration what is now consideredv the preferred form of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a front view of the machine, largely in cross-section, on line 1-1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-Section of the plates and hide during the spinning operation. f i

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but after the spinning operation is finished and the stretched hide has been engaged by the retaining needles.

Fig. 5 is a view on line 5 5 of Fig. 3, broken away'to show the hide and various parts of the machine.

Briey,the method comprises spinning the flat hide rapidly in its own plane, whereby theicentrifugal force stretches and smooths the hide, at the same time extracting most of the moisture therefrom.

- After the above part ofthe method has been carried out, the hide is secured and retained in its stretched condition until the final drying is completed.

The apparatus for carryin out the method comprises a horizontal circu ar table, means for rapidly rotating the table, means for mounting a hide on the table to rotate therewith, and means for engaging the hide while in stretched condition, the engaging means being removable from the machine and adapted to hold th-e hide in stretched condition while being dried and further treated.

In the apparatus shown in the drawings, the frame of the machine comprises four corner posts'or columns 10, interconnected at top, bottom, and mid-portions by horizontal members 12,14 and 16. Underneath the mid'-` dle of 16 and resting on 14 is a hollow column 18 which for convenience is made in sections.

Mountedon base plate 14 is a motor 20, which, by pinion 22, drives a bevel gear 24 fast on a short vertical shaft 26, supportedV for rotation in a bearing 28. Fast on the upper end of shaft 26 is one member 30 of a disc clutch. The other member, 32, of the clutch is mounted on the lower end of a ver-` tical shaft 34above shaft 26 and inV axial alignment therewith. Fast on shaft 34V is va collar 36 connected by links 38 to levers 40 in such manner that when shaft 34 is moved downwardly, the upper member 82 of the clutch engages the lower member 30 any discs therebetween whereby shaft 34 is caused to rotate in unison with gear 24 and shaft 28. The clutch is illustrated in diagrammatic form, as there is no invention in the clutch per s-e.

Shaft 84 is supported for rotation by ball bearings 42 and 44 arranged to slide vertically in guides 46 and 48 respectively Shaft 34 and all parts attached thereto are normally held in elevated position by coil spring 50, the lower end of which rests on a frame cross member 52, the upper end engaging a collar 54 which injturn engages bearing 44. Fast on the upper end of shaft 34 is Ya` spider 56, and it is against the hub of this spider that the thrust of spring 50 is ultimately eective to hold the shaft in its normal raised position. It will be clear from the above that if spider 56 be depressed. shaft 34 will be pushed downwardly, the clutch will be engaged, and slaft 84 and spider 56 will rotate with gear 2 Spider k56 has an-upwardly extending cylindrical boss 58. Mounted on top of the spider, and surrounding boss 58, is a circular plate or table 60. This table is secured to the spider by screws 62. Resting on table 60 and surrounding boss 58 is an annular board 64 of metal, wood, bre or other suitable material. Board 64 is provided with a great number of upwardly extending barbs1 prongs or needles 66 spaced over its surface. Above board 66 is another board7 68, nor mally held out of contact with board 64 by springs 70. Pins 72, fast in board 64 and entering holes in board 68, permit vertical movement of boa-rd 68 but prevent rotation of boards 64 and 68 relatively to each other.

Board 68 has a hole 74 bored through it cor` responding to each needle 66, and normally the boards are in the relative positions shown m Fig. 3, with needles 66 entering but not passing entirely through holes 74. For ease of manufacture theneedles or barbs are made in, groups, pressed from sheet metal.

When plates 64 and 68 are pressed into contact withA each other (Fig. 4), needles 66 project slightly above the upper surface of board 68. When the plates are pushed to gether as above they are locked together by a number of automatic snap fasteners 76V which enter sockets 7 8. lBoard 68 is counterbored as at 80 to fit over the top iof boss 58 and the hub 82 of table 60. y

The hide, designated 84, rests on'top of perforated board 68. Boards 64 and 68 are assembled in pairs, each pair forming a unit which may be removed from or placed in the machine by the operator. The hide to be treated is usually placed on board 68 while the board-unit is outV ofthe machine. The

boards and hide are then placed in spinning position in the machine. After the hide is stretched, and while still spinning, the boards are pressed and locked together (as will be described in detail). rThis causes the upper ends of needles 66 to enter the hide as in Fig. 4. The boards and hide are then removed from the machine to the drying room, the needles keeping the hide in stretched condition during the drying and subsequent operations, thus maintaining the gain in area which took place during the spinning operation. It has'beenfound that the needles are effective for that purpose and that the punctures made by the needles are so minute as not to damage the hide. Furthermore, the flat unbroken surface of the hide without tacks or fasteners lends itself readily to spraying, brushing, or other operations.

In the upper part of the machine is a vertical non-rotatable shaft 88 in axial alignment with shaft 34. On the lower end of shaft V88 a semi-spherical spiderv90 is mounted for rotation on radial-thrust bearings 92 and 94. Fast'on the rim of spider 90 is a horizontal annular plate 96 of the same diameter as table 60. The underside of the plate 96 is covered with a layer of felt 98.

Mounted in spider 90 are a number of pads 100, each on the lower end of a stem 102 which is free to move vertically in guides in the spider. The pads are forced downwardly by springs 104 and normally are below the lower surface of felt lining 98 to an extent limited by nuts 106 on the upper ends of stems 102.

The upper end of shaft 88 is threaded and passes through a nut 108 which is supported for rotation by a spider 110 at the top of the machine. Nut 108 is provided with a bevel gear 112, engaging a bevel pinion 114 on the end'of horizontal shaft 116. By means of hand wheel 118 on the outer end of shaft 116 nut -108 may be turned, therebyraising or lowering shaft 88 and all its attachments including plate 96.

With the above described structure in mind the general operation of the machine may readily be understood. With plate 96 elevated, a pair of boards 64-68, with a wet hide or skin 84 on top of board 68, is placed in operative position in the machine. With motor 20 running, the operator, by means of handwheel 118, lowers shaft 88. This brings pads 100 into contact with the top of the hide at the center thereof. Continued lowering of shaft 88 applies pressure, through springs 70, table 60 and spider 56, to spring 50. Springs 7 0 en masse are stiffer than springs 104 en masse, and both those sets of springs are stiffer than spring 50; therefore when sufficient pressure has been applied as above by wheel 118, spider 56 and shaft 34 are lowered, against the pressure of spring 50, until the friction clutch is engaged and shaft 34 rotates, together with spider 56, table 60, boards 64-68 and the hide. Contact of pads 100 with the hide causes spider 90 and upper plate 96 to spin in unison with plate 60. While rotating as above the parts are in positions shown in Fig. 3, the felt lining 98 being closely adjacent the hide or lightly in contact with it, the contact not being heavy enough to prevent stretching of the hide. As the spinning continues the hide stretches in the horizontal plane due to the centrifugal force, and that same force extracts water and moisture from the hide. After the spinning has continued for a sufficient length of time, wheel 118 is again turned to force shaft 88 and plate 96 still further downwardly to the position shown in Fig. il, forcing boards 68 and 64 together until locked by fasteners 7 6J( 8 and causing needles 66 to engage the stretched hide. After that is done, wheel 118 is turned to raise shaft .88, plate 96 and pads 100 out of contact with the hide. After the parts stop spinning, boards 64-68, with hide attached thereto, are removed from the machine to the drying room, where the drying operation is completed. In order to bring the spinning table promptly to rest, spider 56 is equipped with a conical outer rim 120 which contacts with the stationary co-nical brake 122 whenever shaft 34 is raised to its normal position by spring 50. Downward movement of table 60 is limited by contact of the lower edge of rim 120 against cross frame 16, as at 124 (Fig. 4).

During the spinning of the hide the water extracted therefrom by the centrifugal force is thrown out radially. In order to direct that water downwardly, a shield 126 is provided, so supported as to be automatically lowered into operative position before the spinning operation begins, and automatically raised to an inoperative position when shaft 88 is raised after the spinning is iinished. 1n operative position the vertical rim of the shield rests on a number of brackets 127 on frame cross member 16. Pivotally connected to the inwardly projecting upper plate of the shield are four slotted links 128. Entering the slots of links 128 are pins 130 projecting from the free ends of second order levers 132 fulcrumed at 134 on bosses projecting downwardly from spider 110. A pin 136 projecting from each lever 132 near fulcrum 134 enters a groove 138 in a collar 140 fast on shaft 88. After completion of the spinning operation, when shaft 88 and collar 140 are raised by wheel 118, pins 130 engage the upper ends of the slots in links 128 and raise shield 126 to the dotted position in Fig. 1, where it offers no obstruction to the removal of the treated hide and the insertion of a new hide. After the new hide is in place the lowering of shaft 88 and collar 140 rapidly lowers the shield to position on brackets 126, after which further lowering of shaft 88 has no eifecton'th'e shield, pins 130 simply travelingv in th-eslotted links 128. f

It is to be understood that the inventionv is i generate suflicient centrifugal force to smooth and stretch the hide and to extract moisture therefrom, and then engaging the stretched hide to maintain it in stretched condition.`

3. Ilhe method of stretching a hide which comprises spinning the hide at a speed to generate sufficient centrifugal force to in-v crease the surface area of th-e hide, and engaging the hide to maintainthat increased area.

4i. rlhe method of dryinga hide which comprises spinning the hide at a speed to generate sufficient centrifugal force toremove moisture therefrom.

5. The method of smoothing a hide which comprises spinning the hide at a speed to generate sufficient centrifugal force to smooth said hide.

6. The method of smoothing a hide which comprises spinning the hide at a speed to generate sufficient centrifugal force to smooth said hide, and engaging the hide to retain it in smoothed condition.

7. rlhe invention set forth in claim 1 in which the hide is fiat and is rotated in its own plane.

8. The invention set forth in claim 2 in which the hide is flat and is rotated in its own plane.

9. The invention set forthL in claim 3 in which the hide is hat and is rotated in its own plane.

10. The invention set forth in claim 4; in

which the hide is flat and is rotated in its own plane.

11. The invention set forth in claim 5 in which the hide is flat and is rotated in its own plane.

12. The invention set forth in claim 6 in "f which the hide is flat and is rotated in its own plane.

13. ln the method of setting out a hide, the steps of spinning it at a speed to generate sufficient centrifugal force to stretch the hide, and engaging the hide while stretched to maintain it in stretched condition.

14.-. 1n the method of setting out a hide, the steps of clamping the middle portion of the hide while flat, spinning the hidein its own plane while so clamped at a speed to generate suicient centrifugal force to stretch said hide, and engaging the hide While stretched in order to maintain it in stretched condition.

i 15. In the method of setting, out a hide, the steps of placing the hide in a flat position, spinning the hideV in its own plane at a speed to generate sutlicient centrifugal force to stretch the hide, and engaging only the under side of the hide While stretched to maintain the hide in stretched condition.

16. In the method of setting out a hide, the steps of placing the hide in a fiat position, clamping the middle portion of the hide, spinning the hide at a speed to generate sufficient centrifugal force to stretch said hide, and engaging only the under side of the hide While stretched in order to maintain the hide in stretched condition.

17. In apparatus of the class described, in combination, a support for a hide in stretched condition, and means comprising a plurality of needles adapted to engage one surface only of said hide whereby said hide is maintained in stretched condition on said support With the une-ngaged surface thereofk exposed for subsequent finishing operations. In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature.

JOSEPH A; MEYER. 

